-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded Tuesday that CNN 's Jack Cafferty apologize for remarks he made last week , in which he called the Chinese `` goons and thugs '' and said products manufactured in China are `` junk . ''

`` Cafferty used the microphone in his hands to slander China and the Chinese people -LRB- and -RRB- seriously violated professional ethics of journalism and human conscience , '' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday , according to China 's state-run Xinhua news agency .

She said Cafferty 's remarks `` reflected his arrogance , ignorance and hostility towards the Chinese people , ignited indignation of Chinese -LRB- at -RRB- home and abroad and will be condemned by those who safeguard justice around the world . ''

CNN issued a statement Tuesday saying : `` We are aware of concerns about Jack Cafferty 's comments related to China in the context of the upcoming Olympics , which were broadcast on The Situation Room on April 9 , 2008 .

`` CNN would like to clarify that it was not Mr. Cafferty 's , nor CNN 's , intent to cause offense to the Chinese people , and -LSB- CNN -RSB- would apologize to anyone who has interpreted the comments in this way .

`` CNN is a network that reports the news in an objective and balanced fashion . However , as part of our coverage we also employ commentators who provide robust opinions that generate debate .

`` On this occasion Jack was offering his strongly held opinion of the Chinese government , not the Chinese people -- a point he subsequently clarified on The Situation Room on April 14 .

`` It should be noted that over many years , Jack Cafferty has expressed critical comments on many governments , including the U.S. government and its leaders . ''

Cafferty , who appears daily on CNN 's `` The Situation Room , '' made the remarks as host Wolf Blitzer was comparing today 's China to that of 20 or 30 years ago .

`` I do n't know if China is any different , but our relationship with China is certainly different , '' Cafferty said . `` We 're in hock to the Chinese up to our eyeballs because of the war in Iraq , for one thing . They 're holding hundreds of billions of dollars worth of our paper . We are also running hundreds of billions of dollars ' worth of trade deficits with them , as we continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export , you know , jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we 're buying from Wal-Mart .

`` So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed , '' he said . `` I think they 're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they 've been for the last 50 years . ''

He issued a clarification of his remarks on Monday 's `` Situation Room , '' saying that by `` goons and thugs , '' he meant the Chinese government , not the Chinese people . It was unclear whether China 's Foreign Ministry was aware of the clarification when it held the Tuesday news conference .

In the days following his remarks , however , the Legal Immigrant Association launched an online petition condemning his statements as `` racist '' and `` despicable '' and demanding that CNN discipline Cafferty and apologize to the Chinese people . Nearly 45,000 people had signed it as of Tuesday afternoon .

In the petition , the association describes itself as `` a leading organization of legal immigrants mainly comprised of people from China . '' According to its Web site , the nonprofit group is based in Santa Clara , California , and was founded in 2007 as an organization `` dedicated to the social well-being of employment-based immigrant professionals . ''

The state-run English-language newspaper China Daily also said in an editorial Tuesday that an apology is called for , calling Cafferty `` pathetic '' and noting , `` it is rare for the world audience to hear such a blatant discrimination against an ethnic group of people with such a derogatory connotation . ''

Others angered by Cafferty 's remarks were urging a boycott of CNN 's advertisers . E-mail to a friend

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Cafferty said Chinese are `` goons and thugs '' and products are `` junk ''

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China says Cafferty violated the ethics of journalism

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CNN says he was offering opinion about Chinese government , not its people

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Online petition says remarks were `` racist '' and `` despicable ''